Hi Friends!  Hope summer has been going well for all of you.  It is about 110 today (or hotter) here in Arizona!  It’s been a while since I’ve blogged so I am so happy to be blogging now!

So if you’re like me, you want to plan fun activities for your kids throughout the summer without breaking the bank!  My husband and I already planned a few vacations but what about those in between days.  Those days when you hear “Mommy, what are we doing today?”  If I do not have anything formally planned for the day this will be the first thing I hear.  Those are dreaded words to me, so I put together a small list of what my kids love to do that won’t eat up your budget and will still keep them busy.

 

1.  Roller Skating

I haven’t been roller skating in a really long time and I totally forgot how fun it was.  It’s amazing how you never forget how to skate!!  My kids have only been skating once or twice in their lives so it felt very new for them.  My oldest picked up fast and my little one needed a little assistance but still had so much fun.  We went to Skateland and it was so reasonable.  Admission is just $5 but we had a buy one get one free coupon.  Great fun and super inexpensive!

 

2.  Local Attractions

We are usually so busy during the year that we don’t have the chance to visit the local attractions in our area.  Summer time is a great time to visit these places in Arizona because you can find discounts everywhere.  Our library has Cultural Passes that you can use for the zoo (you’ve got to go super early though because of the heat), museums and more!  Visit the Scottsdale Public Library website for more information.

3.  Family Time

I am happy to say that I have a huge family and I mean huge!  I have 6 sisters and 2 brothers!  Every summer I get to have family in town and it is always like one big party!!  This year we had 13 people (including us) in our house at one time and it was fun!  We played all sorts of games, acted silly, talked about our lives as youngsters and used our 1phones to shoot each other dancing in slow-motion.  Yes, we are a crazy family.  Just having us all together was amazing!  All we needed was each other!

 

4. Local Travel

We are so lucky to live in a place that has such beautiful scenery.  We haven’t been to the Grand Canyon in a while so we put that on our list of “local Travel” fun!  We made it even more interesting by adding Flagstaff and Sedona to the list…all in one day!  A lot of traveling in one day? For sure but it was still fun and I will never get tired of seeing such beautiful places!

5.  Cooking Show

My niece loves cooking and watching Food Network.  Since she was been staying with us for the last few week, she’s been watching these amazing shows and making me really hungry!! Lol!!  One day we decided to film our own Food Network show called “Watson’s Kitchen”.  It was one of the funniest activities we’ve ever done and it didn’t cost anything as I already had the food in the fridge.  We made turkey meatballs to go with our spaghetti dinner.  The kids did such a great job and we will certainly do it again before the summer is over.  My niece who loves the Food Network channel decided to stay behind the camera and film our segment.  She even added graphics and theme music.  Such a fun day!

Hope this post inspired you to think of some fun and inexpensive ways to enjoy your summer with your kids.  Please leave a comment below and share your ideas!